


Swords and Snakes

by MageWriter



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Blind warrior!Kara, F/F, Prompt Fill, gorgon!Lena, supercorp secret santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:49:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28233447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MageWriter/pseuds/MageWriter
Summary: Left alone while her sister travels with her new wife, Kara takes a job searching out a creature that is turning people to stone. The story isn't exactly as she was told.
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Samantha "Sam" Arias/Alex Danvers
Comments: 7
Kudos: 124
Collections: Gays in Earth 38, Supergirl Femslash Secret Santa 2020





	Swords and Snakes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Arckee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arckee/gifts).



> This was the prompt given to me: Medusa!Lena and Blind Warrior!Kara. Kara is a wandering warrior who's been hired to slay Lena, because people fear her for the whole turning people into stone thing, even though she doesn't want to hurt anybody. She's just sad and lonely. And then perky Kara comes along.  
> I went a little bit fairytale with this. I mixed in Greek mythology, some D&D, magic, and anything else that made the world work. I hope I did the prompt justice. Either way, I had fun writing it.

Kara huffed, reaching up to feel for the next hold. The land here was very different to what she was used to, the air smelled strange and even common sounds were odd to her ears. She found the right bit of stone and gripped it, pulling herself up. The dog on her back whined.

“Hush Krypto, we’ll be finished soon.”

She had no idea if that was true or not. As they had been climbing for an hour now, she hoped so.

Krypto gave a short bark, clearly disagreeing with her. She hushed him again, trying to reassure him that this was no different than their other journeys.

The locals she had spoken too had clearly thought she was insane, stating that the lack of a walkable path would dissuade her from her goal. The joke was on them, as her training master had set her tasks just like this to try and discourage her from her goal to become a warrior despite her lack of sight. Kara was rather used to doing the seemingly impossible.

Hand met air and Kara bent her wrist forward feeling for flat ground beyond the edge. She found it and grinned, pushing and pulling herself and Krypto back to flat ground. Once certain that it was sound and large enough for the both of them, she released her canine companion.

“Alright boy, find the path.”

She heard him huff and wonder away. While he did what he had been trained to do, she rearranged their supplies now that she wasn’t carrying him. When she finished, she took her staff in hand and whistled.

Krypto barked and she heard him bounding toward her. He pressed himself to her side and stepped forward.

Together, they went toward the path he had discovered. She praised him, not needing eyesight to know he was preening.

If Alex were here, she would be teasing Kara for spoiling him. Kara didn’t think of it like that. Krypto earned all of his treats and praise. Alex was just as bad, and she had been the one to train him in the first place. Her older sister had wanted to be certain that Kara always had someone trustworthy at her side, especially when Alex couldn’t be there.

Her sister was happily on her wedding trip with her new bride. Lonely, Kara had taken the job offer to seek out and stop the strange creature that was turning living things into stone.

Out in the wilds on her own was better than the murmurings and stares of mostly strangers who wanted to gawk at the oddity of a blind fighter. She hated the pity that came with her blindness, as if she were helpless simply because she lacked one of her senses.

* * *

Lena frowned as she watched the newest ‘monster hunter’ traversing the path below. The woman (that was different) had looked ridiculous scaling the cliff face with the little dog on her back. It had been amusing.

She hadn’t had much to be amused about in a long time.

Amused or not, the woman was going to be an annoyance she would much rather avoid. Lena had just settled here. She really didn’t want to have to move.

Again.

For the sixth time.

Really, she would have thought that at this point her brother would have given up. He and Mother had already won. Lena was gone, probably presumed dead by the people. She had no interest in returning to the viper pit (and wasn’t her current situation a bit ironic) that was the King’s Court and even less interested in getting within spiting distance of Luthor lands.

Instead, he continued to send people after her.

Honestly, poison in her wine would have been faster.

“Oh hush, let me be dramatic,” she admonished several of her snakes who were hissing at her. They were nice, now that she was used to them. Certainly, they were friendlier than anyone she had known at Court.

They were even kind of cute after a fashion.

A few bopped her in the nose, a form of affection as well as admonishment. Hunters were dangerous and they caused her undue stress. Mostly because the easiest and fastest way to deal with them was to turn them to stone. That led to more hunters (because fighters of all kinds apparently gossiped more than they accused women of doing, the knights had at any rate), which meant more inconveniently placed statues and having to move again.

She just wanted to be left alone. Why did others find that so hard to understand?

* * *

Krypto crept forward, wary. The stone here didn’t smell right. It felt odd beneath his paws and there was a strange feeling in the air.

“Krypto, halt,” Kara ordered. “Come back. We’ll find another way.”

He had just reached her when the ground began to shake. Kara stumbled, thrown off by the moving ground. She tried to anchor herself, but as soon as she thought she had another rumble had her lost again.

She felt the rush of energy as Krypto transformed. He scooped her up on his back and then they were airborne. She clutched his ruff in one hand, staff still in the other. Useless as it was, she closed her eyes and focused on the sounds.

No longer on the ground, the rumbles transformed into large, heavy footsteps. It had the cadence of a single gait.

She frowned. Normally, shaking the ground with simple footsteps took a herd of something or an army. Those were not always mutually exclusive. As far as she knew, the Isles of Britain were not home to any of the Cyclops and certainly not a Titan. Surely if any kind of similar being existed here, someone would have mentioned it.

“Krypto, am I mishearing this?” She asked her companion. He gave a long howl, his fur bristling as he prepared himself for combat. Kara nodded. “I didn’t think so.”

Hostile or not? Could this be the creature turning others into stone? Perhaps she was wrong about the Titan, although she had never heard of any with that particular skill.

“FE FI FO FUM! ALL THE BLOOD AND ALL THE BONE TO MAKE MY SOUP AND BREAD!”

Well that was ominous. Not necessarily bad, although she had never heard of using bone meal in bread.

“SHEEP IS GOOD. LAMB BE TENDER.”

Was there a purpose to his shouting?

“BUT MAN BEATS BEAST IN TASTE AND FLAVOR!”

Oh, so inspiring fear and telling him where to find his targets as they screamed.

“STOP!” She shouted, yelling over him and bringing his attention to them.

“What is this?” His voice was still loud, but it was no longer shouting. “A flying dog with a girl on its back?”

“Hello Sir,” she still had to try. He could just be using a mantra of his kind as he walked. “I’m a little lost. Would you be able to-” Krypto’s sudden move cut her off.

“Come back! I’ve never eaten _flying_ dog before! Or girl!”

Krypto barked, the sound wave he emitted hitting the…she didn’t even know what to call it!

“That tickles!”

Oh…that wasn’t good. She switched her staff for her sword and fit her shield to her arm. Krypto would not let her fall.

“Eyes!” She commanded. If it worked on cyclops, it should work on this…whatever he was.

* * *

Lena gaped when the small dog turned into a much larger version with blue flames around its feet and on the tips of its tails. She had never heard of a creature like that.

The giant, on the other hand, was something she was very familiar with.

Not this particular giant, but his kind were well known enough to cause trouble when they had a taste for human flesh. Most, to her knowledge, had gone to the Fae realms where humans couldn’t find them or their treasures. A few still roamed the lands, although most seemed to prefer Ireland and Scotland.

If there was man-eating giant here, that meant trouble. She would need to leave anyway.

Lena had no desire to get in the way of knights and hunters out to claim some glory for themselves in chasing down non-humans.

Still, this was interesting to watch as the girl and her canine companion fought the giant. Lena doubted the woman would win, not a single fighter. It regularly took a banner of knights to bring down a single giant.

Her snakes were highly interested if their eager movements were any indication. She was fairly certain a few were even cheering, although she didn’t know who for.

The woman’s sword and shield flashed in the sunlight as the pair darted in and out of the giant’s reach. The pair had some intelligence as the human was aiming for the eyes.

There was a cry, and then the giant was grasping the side of his face. He yelled out a curse, still reaching with his other hand. Hampered now (oh, the canine creature could _breath fire_ ), the woman took advantage and had her steed dart around the giant’s now blind side.

The move worked as the angered giant spun to keep the pair in his sight. It gave the woman the chance to take out his other eye.

Lena watched in further surprise as, with his sight gone, he tried to smash the flying pair between bloodied palms. With the right magical healer, his eyes would be fine given time. Giants were weirdly resilient in that way. If he were smarter, he would flee and return.

Giants weren’t that smart.

The woman held her sword out and drove it thru the Giant’s throat, dragging it along in a torrent of blood. Her steed got them out of the way just as the giant fell.

On impact, the ground shuddered and a small avalanche started. The body was soon covered, both it and the rocks now blocking the pass. It was an impressive mess. At least it would be useful in keeping people away.

Lena watched as the dog creature landed and stumbled, sending the woman to the ground. It reverted back to its smaller form and lay where it collapsed.

* * *

“Krypto?” The woman’s voice was loud in her concern. She got to her feet, putting her sword away but leaving her shield as she called for her companion.

Kara heard the whimper and took several stumbling steps forward. “Krypto, come on boy. Where are you?”

Krypto yipped, trying to get back to his feet. Both his hind legs _hurt_ from being clipped by one of the two-eyed cyclops hands. His partner stumbled away from him in her search. He whined.

Kara whimpered herself at the distressed sound. He was hurt and they were alone. She wasn’t going to be able to find him on her feet. Carefully, she set her shield on her back so both her arms were free before lowering herself to her knees. She didn’t care if she looked ridiculous so long as she found her friend.

“Keep making sound Krypto, there’s a good boy. Brave boy, I bet you were a sight.” She tried to remain calm, offering soothing words in between Krypto’s whimpers.

* * *

It took a bit for her to understand what she was seeing. When she did, it took a moment longer for her to accept it. She watched for a moment longer as the woman got on her hands and knees to search for her companion.

Her snakes gave a low, collective hiss. They were of two minds, just as she was. It would be all too easy for her to turn around and leave them to their fate. They had gotten this far, even with one injured they should still be able to figure something out. If not, so be it. What was it to her?

“Damn it,” Lena huffed, arms crossed. The woman was a mystery, an oddity that piqued her curiosity. Besides that, she had ended a potential trouble that Lena hadn’t even known about.

Although that did explain the cliff on what she had been certain was meant to a hill and the fact that from what she could tell all the local villages avoided this place. It explained the blocked paths and the occasional random sheep or goat.

Several snakes urged her to move towards the other woman, the tugging unpleasant but not hard. She could ignore it. More joined in.

“Fine, but if this is a trap it’ll be your fault.” She muttered, turning to lay her hands on the medical kit she had put together.

With far more grace than many would expect from her, she worked her way down to where the strange pair was. She didn’t try for stealth, not like earlier when she had first noticed the other woman.

The woman moved into a crouch, dagger in hand once she heard Lena’s steps.

“Who’s there?” She demanded.

“I just want to help,” Lena said, stopping where she was. She cautiously met the other woman’s eyes. A difficult thing to manage when the cloudy blue eyes were looking at a point in the distance.

“How did you get here?” The woman paused. “Were you a prisoner of that…thing?”

“That ‘thing’ was a giant,” Lena informed her, “and no. I recently took up residence in one of the caves up here. I’m a bit of a recluse and hadn’t run across him or he me.”

Kara mouthed the new word quickly before returning her first concern. “Can you help Krypto? He’s hurt and I can’t…” she motioned towards her face.

“I believe I can, I’ll know after I see the damage done.” Lena looked over to where the small ‘dog’ was. He was glaring at her, that was the only way to describe it. Blue fire flickered around his mouth. “May I have your hand? You’ve got a bit turned around.”

“Thank you for asking,” Kara reached out, allowing the strange woman to take her hand before getting on her feet. “You watched the fight?”

“I did,” Lena admitted.

Krypto let out a strange, half barking hiss. The still nameless woman (although to be fair, Lena hadn’t given her name either) froze in her steps, and the grip she had on Lena’s hand changed.

“Stop, that’s his snake warning.”

“He has a…” Lena shook her head, her snakes giving their own version of laughter. “Please don’t scream.” Hesitantly, she took the woman’s hand and held it close enough for some of her snakes to touch.

The woman looked confused as several of the more curious snakes flickered out their tongues to taste her.

“Don’t lick that,” Lena reprimanded them, “giant blood can’t be good for anyone.”

“You’re a Gorgon!” The woman said, sounding awed. She said something else that Lena didn’t understand, but her snakes seemed to. The most stubborn of the lot (and the apparent leader of the others), took notice and responded.

The woman giggled and held up her other hand, extending a solitary finger. The snake bopped it, much as it did to Lena’s nose or cheek.

“You’re not afraid,” Lena had yet to meet many people who didn’t scream at the first sight of her. That, or immediately try to kill her.

“Why would I be?” The woman said with a shrug, smiling at Lena. “It’s okay Krypto! She’s not a threat to us.”

Krypto grumbled but subsided with a whimper. The woman’s smile dropped at the reminder that her companion was hurt.

“Can you help him? Please?”

“If I get closer, is he going to burn me?” Lena moved them closer, eyeing the dog just as he was her.

“No, of course not! Krypto, I know you’re in pain but you know better! You need to be nice for…oh.” The woman blushed. “I’m sorry! I’ve been so rude! I’m Kara, this is Krypto. May I please have a name to call you?”

That was probably the strangest way she had ever been asked her name.

“You aren’t some kind of Fae, are you?” Lena hadn’t thought of that until now. It would certainly explain Krypto’s abilities.

Kara shook her head. “I’m not entirely certain what a ‘Fae’ is, but no. I’m…mostly human and Krypto is an inu no Akuma or…well,” she frowned as she tried to think on how to translate it. “Oh! He’s a type of demon dog!”

“Okay,” Lena accepted that. If she could wake up one morning with snakes for hair, then blind women with demon dog companions were fully possible. She would get back to that ‘mostly human’ description at some point.

Now allowed near, she could see what the issue was. The giant had managed to strike Krypto a glancing blow that broke bone. Part of his right hip and leg were distorted, but the lashing of his tails and his continued whimpers at least assured her that there was no spinal damage.

Lena hoped his biology was canine enough that the dogs and wolves she had studied would still prove accurate.

“Okay, his leg is broken. I need you to lift him carefully. We’ll return to my home so we can clean him and then set his leg. Follow my hands.” She guided Kara’s hands into position and the blonde gently lifted him. “I’m going to need to guide you as the path is steep and crooked. May I?”

“Yes. Thank you.” Kara smiled at her again and Lena felt herself blush.

“Lena,” she burst out, “my name is Lena.”

Kara’s smile became brighter. “Lena, I like it.”

* * *

Later, once both of her new house guests were clean and cared for, Lena watched as Kara tended her weapons.

“You can ask, most people do,” Kara spoke into the silence. Now that things were calmer and she knew Krypto was going to be okay, her own curiosity was poking at her. She wanted to know more about Lena and why she was here.

She had already thanked the Gods that Lena had been there and willing to help.

“I’m not entirely certain how to phrase the question,” Lena said after a moment of thought.

Kara chuckled at that. “Most people start by asking how I lost my sight, then move on to remarking on my fighting ability and how hard it must have been to learn.”

Lena snorted. “I’m more curious as to how you befriended a demonic dog, if you’re on a quest to kill me, and perhaps if it would simply be easier to turn you both to stone and move on.”

Kara cocked her head to the side. “Please don’t do that to Krypto, and I’m immune. Why would I be on a quest to kill you?”

“Nothing is immune to this accursed stare, and isn’t monster-hunting what fills the coffers of most wondering warriors?”

Kara shook her head. “It would be poor manners to kill my host who has done nothing to harm me. Gorgons cannot turn to stone what cannot see them in return.” She sighed. “Yes, I have hunted monsters to fill my purse. I am in search of a creature that…oh.” She frowned.

“Let me guess,” Lena drawled, “a rather charismatic man approached you or had one of his underlings bring you to him, and he hired you to find the creature turning people to stone and gave you a general direction to head in?”

“Yes?” Kara answered.

Lena sighed. “The man who hired you is my half-brother. What he failed to mention is that aside from a few when I first became this,” she waved her hand over herself, “all of the people I’ve turned to stone have been hunters he has sent to collect my head.”

Kara was beyond confused. “Perhaps my English is not as good as I thought. What do you mean ‘became this’? Gorgons are born Gorgons.”

“I was human until about six years ago when I awoke from a nightmare and inadvertently turned the screaming chambermaid into a statue,” Lena explained. “I’ve learned enough since then to know I have been cursed, although why or who I do not know.”

Kara blinked. “I…I don’t know anything about curses. Not the kind that can be broken or undone.”

“Is your blindness a curse?” Lena had heard of that one.

“In a way, yes,” Kara said with a sigh. “It’s more of a punishment or a consequence, depending on how you look at it.”

“So…you weren’t always blind?” Lena winched and cursed her curiosity. She never had known when to stop asking questions.

Luckily for her, Kara laughed.

“No, I lost my sight when I was eight years old,” Kara explained. “My father…” she sighed. She did not owe this stranger her story, but she found herself wanting to tell it anyway. “My father was a scientist. He was always trying to find new ways to improve things and people's lives. He just…went too far.”

Kara wondered how best to describe it. People of different places viewed the Gods very differently and many had completely different gods.

“Your father blinded you?”

“Not on purpose,” Kara was quick to defend, “but it is the result of his actions. In my innocence, I helped him in his lab. He was trying to make the ultimate warrior, a demigod without what he called ‘the knots of fate’ that being a true child of the Gods entails.”

“He experimented on you.”

“Yes, although I didn’t understand it at the time. Other things happened in the aftermath of the accident that created what I am today.”

“So that’s why you described yourself as mostly human?”

“Yes, although depending upon who you ask I’m either cursed or blessed by the gods.” She shrugged. “I’ve made a life for myself with what I have. It’s not always pleasant, and it’s inconvenient as you witnessed today, but I refuse to let this,” she motioned to her blank eyes, “define what I can or can’t do despite what others may think or say.”

Lena smiled at that. “I watched you take down a thirty-foot giant that normally would have taken at least a dozen knights or an army company to have any chance of ridding the area of the threat. I’d say that you’ve done plenty well for yourself.” She looked over to where Krypto was curled up by the fire. “How did you come to friends with a demon dog?”

“He was a gift to me and my sister,” Kara explained. “Eliza, my foster mother, went with several other healers from the temple of Apollo to the Asian lands and islands to exchange knowledge. We ended up in a land called Japan…”

Lena listened as Kara wove together a tale of adventure featuring her, Alex, and a mixed bag of other characters in a land that sounded both exotic and terrifying. She used to dream of traveling the world, but until being turned into a Gorgon she had never been allowed to go anywhere that wasn’t another Lord’s manor for one social gathering or another.

It had been beyond dull.

“Alex is the one who decided to train Krypto to be my companion.” Kara finished with. “She wanted to give me the freedom that no one else was really prepared to give me.”

“She sounds like a wonderful older sister,” Lena commented.

“She is!” Kara agreed, face bright with emotion. “She hated having a little sister at first, but she’s always been fiercely protective of me.”

“Where is she now? On her own quest or worrying about you back in your home?”

“She’s on her honeymoon with her wife,” Kara explained, “Sam is from here originally. So we came here so that she could share where she came from with us and be married in her traditions.” Kara giggled. “I got to tease them a lot about being married twice, before two sets of gods.”

“That seems…overkill?” Lena hedged, uncertain how she was supposed to respond to that.

“That’s what I said!” Kara set her things aside, finished. “I tried to convince them to just combine things, that no one would care. I doubt the Gods would have been offended so long as they were equally acknowledged. I was outvoted.”

Lena laughed at the pout on the blonde’s face.

Kara felt herself swoon a little at Lena’s laugh. It was beautiful, full and rich. She’d gladly make a fool of herself if that sound was her reward.

Her laughter fading out, Lena rearranged herself into a more comfortable position. “So what are you going to do now?”

Kara shook herself, focusing back on her current dilemma. She could not, would not, harm the woman who had helped her and Krypto.

“If you don’t mind, staying here until Krypto is fully healed. It should only be about a week, perhaps two. His kind heals quickly, especially when given such good care.” There was that blinding smile again.

Lena thought about it for a moment. They could easily leave the next day or even the one after. She could point them in the direction of the next village. Kara had gotten this far, even with her companion injured they should be able to reach their destination with little trouble.

“I don’t mind,” she said instead. “Your company isn’t bothersome, and my snakes like you.”

* * *

Kara followed the line to the snare, grinning when she found the trap to be full of what felt like a rabbit. That marked the third such animal, and the fifth full trap today. Carefully, she freed the animal and made certain it was dead before adding it to her game bag. Just as carefully, she felt for the notches so she could reset the snare.

She might not be able to shoot a bow or track prey over a distance (the latter she could only do with Krypto, and then they got creative), but snares she could do.

Lena was gathering herbs for her medicines. Kara could hear her occasionally speaking to her snakes. It was cute.

With soft steps, she made her way back to the cave, following the trail she and Lena had worked out early in Kara’s stay.

“Hey boy, feeling better?” She called softly, grinning when Krypto yipped at her.

His steps were still awkward as he favored his right side. He was taking longer to heal than was normal, a fact that Lena fretted over thinking she had done something wrong. Kara just tried to assure her that it only meant that the damage had been more severe than either of them had thought.

While he was in pain as he healed, he had suffered no fevers or infection. Lena had set his leg perfectly, his own healing abilities taking care of the rest. Kara thought he might be milking the injury a little, having grown to like Lena and her fretting over him.

Kara couldn’t blame him. The longer she spent in the other woman’s company, the more she liked her. She was a little prickly, but kind. She was also curious and knowledgeable about so many things. Their conversations were never boring.

Lena didn’t seem to mind that their stay was extending far past the time Kara had told her. They had been here nearly a month now.

“Kara! Come up here!” Lena called from where she was. By now, she understood what Kara’s abilities were.

“Coming!” She patted Krypto once more before turning to make the climb up to where Lena was.

“Six forward, twelve to the left!” Lena called out once she was in sight.

Kara followed those directions, taking the number of steps Lena had called out. She arrived at the Gorgon’s side, giggling a little when she was greeted by several affectionate bops to her cheek.

“Hello all,” she added in the soft hiss.

“One day you are going to teach me that,” Lena commented. “I’m curious to see if I can learn it.”

“Probably,” Kara still didn’t understand Lena’s curse but she had already decided that it didn’t matter. She was falling in love with the woman anyway. “What did you find?”

“I want you to try and lift this,” she placed Kara’s hands onto a stone surface. “I think it might be what’s blocking some of the water source. Can you hear it?”

Focusing, Kara listened for water sounds. She did hear something, and if her step counting was correct then they were near one of the natural water sources Lena’s home had.

“I can; step back. Does anything look mortared?”

“Not that I can see, it just looks as if it fell.”

With a grunt of effort, Kara drove her fingers into the stone and pulled. It gave and her feet were awash with cold water. She yelped, moving away from the stream. She could hear Lena laughing at her.

“Well?”

“I think I was right, it looks to be mostly going into where that boulder was sitting.” Lena crept closer to study the newly revealed space. “I don’t think…oh…”

“What? What is it? Lena?”

“There’s a path or part of a path,” Lena explained. She could see where small (the largest might have fit her first) holes flowed with water, clear now that the boulder was gone.

“Should we follow it?” Kara looked eager, bouncing on her toes.

“Why not?” Lena reached back, touching Kara’s hand in silent offer. Kara laced their fingers together.

“Lead on My Lady,” Kara said, sketching a very bad bow.

“You are ridiculous,” Lena said with a shake of her head. “Come on.”

She took the first steps up the trail. It was slick with water and underwater moss. Kara helped steady her and she did the same for Kara in turn as they made their way up the gradual incline. Once they reached the top, Lena wished she had a way to give Kara sight even for a moment.

Before them was a small lake, the source of the water in the cave. Grooves of different trees clustered around the edges of the lake, too neat to be entirely wild. Off to one side was a low stone wall, a look inside revealing a garden left to grow wild.

“I smell strawberries,” Kara said, drawing in deep breaths. “And…apples?”

“I’m not entirely certain what kind of magic is at work here, but you aren’t mistaken.” She described everything she could see to the best of her abilities. “I think at one point, this must have been a sorcerer’s home.”

“Not a Fae’s?” Kara teased.

“No; not a full-blooded one at least. Everything is too neat to be of Fae origin.” Lena reached up and picked an apple. She was already cursed, she doubted it could get worse if she were wrong.

She bit into the apple, savoring the sweetness of the juice and the satisfying crunch of the flesh. Nothing happened except her stomach growled for more.

“Good?” Kara asked, her own hand reaching up to try and grasp one for herself.

“Wonderful, do you think Krypto would like some?”

“Oh yes, and the berries. He’s partial to them, and they should go alright with the rabbits I brought in today.” She grasped an apple and pulled it down. She felt it over, checking for holes or soft spots that would indicate that it would be best not to eat it.

“We’ll gather some then,” Lena decided. All of this had just been left here. If she began to take care of it, then that would make it hers, wouldn’t it? The cave had been empty when she found it, and the plants and land here were obviously neglected.

“I wonder if there are fish in the lake?” Kara mused.

“It wouldn’t surprise me, there are ducks.” Lena spotted some as they walked closer.

“I wonder if there’s a filtering system in place?” Kara pulled her hand from the water. It wasn’t too cold; it would be nice to swim in on a hot day.

“There’s the one I built when I first moved in, but if there was one before I’m not even certain where to begin to look. Perhaps that was what was originally where the boulder was?”

“Maybe,” Kara agreed. Lena was so smart. “We should bring Krypto up here.”

“Eager to move on?” Lena asked, ignoring the pang in her chest. Kara couldn’t stay forever. Why would she?

“No, but I should find a way to get in touch with Alex before too much longer.” Kara turned so she was facing Lena, a move she had perfected over the last few weeks. “I like being here with you.”

“Pretty certain Krypto doesn’t. He keeps giving me odd looks.”

“He’s protective, and of course he likes you! _I’m_ certain he’s playing up his injury because you’ve been taking such good care of the both of us.”

Lena blushed hard, ducking her head away to try and hide behind her snakes. Kara was being sweet.

“Well, you’re not as annoying as others are. And” if Kara could be bold then so could she, “you are rather adorable. Also warm, very warm. I may just keep you around thru the winter.”

Kara threw back her head and laughed at that. “Or you could come to visit my home with me. I think you’ll like Greece, and I can take you to meet other Gorgons.”

This was not the first time Kara had made such a suggestion. Lena was not accustomed to someone actually wanting her around. She had gotten used to her solitude.

Several of her snakes bopped her, one even being daring enough to nip her. She glared at them.

Really.

They could let her be a _little_ dramatic.

* * *

Six weeks after they met, Krypto was fully healed. Or at least he was tired of playing at being too injured to leave. Only he knew the answer to that.

They still stayed. Kara kept coming up with reasons why she couldn’t leave yet.

There were many heavy stones in the garden that needed moving. Lena was in no way strong enough to move them. She needed Kara to do it.

Lena was uncomfortable going into populated areas. Kara was not. The warrior took the furs from her kills that Lena cured into the nearest village (which, really, wasn’t that far away and the path was clear) along with some of the fruit and vegetables they dug out of the garden to sell and trade.

Aside from her petrifying stare, Lena didn’t know much in the way of self-defense. Kara had offered, in exchange for healing Krypto and allowing them to stay, to teach her. Lena had accepted. It wouldn’t due to have those lessons interrupted so soon after beginning.

With her recent move to the cave, it was nowhere near ready for winter. Gorgons, like actual snakes, were susceptible to the cold. Kara wanted to be certain her friend’s home was adequate to her needs.

Eventually, they both admitted to themselves that they were each coming up with reasons for the traveling pair not to go.

“Stay,” Lena blurted out one night when the unspoken topic lay heaviest between them.

“What?” Kara turned to her from where she was wrestling with Krypto.

“Stay, I want you to stay, here, with me.” Lena rushed out, thanking whatever deity might be listening that Kara could not see her face redden or the antics of her snakes. They were doing some mixture of cheering and trying to hide her blushes.

Kara pushed Krypto off of her and stood, making her way over to where the other woman sat watching them. She held out her hands, waiting for Lena to take them. Once she had, Kara led one to rest over her heart and the other to cup her face.

“I would like that,” she said after a moment of just standing there in that position. “I would like that very much, but…”

“But what?” Lena felt her heart sink. There was always a ‘but’ when it came to her. She _could_ do that, but she was a woman. She _could_ do this, but she was a Lady. She _might_ be worth something, but she was the Lord’s bastard daughter.

“I would like to kiss you,” Kara blurted out, “just once. Please? You don’t have to or need to return my feelings, I love being your friend, but I would like to know.”

Lena felt the giggle bubble up within her. An honest to the Gods _giggle_ of the kind she hadn’t given to the world since she was four years old. _That_ was a ‘but’ she could live with.

“Silly woman,” she muttered, grabbing a fistful of Kara’s tunic and tugging her closer, “I’d thought you’d never ask.”

The first kiss was eager and sloppy, sending them both into fits of giggles before trying again. The second time worked much better. The third was interrupted by both snakes and canine as they wanted affection. Both women laughed, giving the requested pats and pecks before turning back to each other.

* * *

Kara heard them approach before they entered the cave. She rolled away from Lena, reaching to where her sword was kept beside what was now their bed. She grabbed it, dropping the sheath to the side and stepping around the bed to prep for an ambush.

She knew the cave well by this point and knew where to stand to be unseen by anyone approaching. She heard Krypto stir, but not the sound of his shifting. Lena was awake but remaining still, her snakes moving around in agitation to whatever had awoken Kara.

An object sailed thru the air, the pungent smoke alerting Kara to what it was before it landed. She whistled high, the signal to duck and cover.

Lena had no idea what the noise meant, but followed what Krypto did, rolling off the bed to shelter behind it. A flash went off, several of her snakes (too curious for their own good) shrieking in pain as the sudden light blinded them. Smoke quickly filled the room, making her woozy.

“Kara, what-” she coughed, choking on the smoke. She could hear Krypto doing the same.

Kara said something, but Lena didn’t understand it. There was a clash of swords, and that was the last Lena heard as she lost consciousness.

The flash had no effect on her, even as she felt the heat of it. The smoke was another issue, but she had fought in worse. She could taste the sedative in the smoke, one focused on those who were not human.

“Hades take you!” She cursed whoever had invaded their home. She launched her attack, hearing as her sword hit another.

She pushed with her strength, her main thought to keep the intruder away from her lover and companion. Listening (because most fighters never paid attention to just how much noise they made even when they thought they were being quiet), she followed their movements to parry and strike. The smoke made it hard to breathe, but it would make it equally as hard for her opponent to see.

Kara didn’t have to worry about it.

Slowly, she forced the intruder down the narrow ‘hall’ that lead from the main cavern to the chamber they had claimed for their sleeping quarters. Kara felt the temperature difference from the banked fire and the incoming sunlight when they reached the main chamber.

“This is for my sister,” the intruder said something that one did not say in polite company.

“Alex language!” Kara reprimanded at the same time she blocked the incoming strike.

Both of them froze with Kara’s blade inches from Alex’s throat.

Alex yanked off her helmet and mask, blinking as she took in her sleep rumpled sister. She gaped for a moment, not believing what she was seeing at first.

“By the Gods…you’re alive!” She pushed aside her sister’s weapon to envelop the taller woman into a hug.

Kara lowered her sword to avoid skewering her sister. “Of course I’m alive, what else would I be?” She asked, returning the hug. “Didn’t you get my message?”

“What message?” Alex demanded. “The one that said you had taken a job going after some creature that was turning people to stone? Not what I expected when I returned from my honeymoon, nor was the news that you had perished in the hunt!”

“No I…oh no, I forgot to send it!” Kara felt her cheeks flush. She had meant to take the letter, carefully written by Lena, into town to send with a messenger to the place they had been staying at. In the happiness that was her new relationship with Lena, she had forgotten.

“Yes, you did.” Alex stepped back, looking her sister over. “I thought I had lost you, Kara. Sam traced your last location to here.”

Alex had thought that at best she would recover her sibling’s remains and Krypto’s petrified form. To find her alive was better than anything she had hoped for after so long.

“What are you still doing out here after all this time?” Alex demanded.

Kara smiled widely. “I met my future wife!” She said excitedly. “Oh! The smoke!”

She spun around and raced down the hallway. She heard Alex follow her but ignored her sister for the moment. It took a bit and a few stubbed toes, but she located Lena and picked her up to carry her to the main chamber. She heard Alex do the same with Krypto’s limp for, the older woman saying soft apologies.

“What in all the Hells is a Gorgon doing here?”

“Hello Sam, nice to hear you.” Kara greeted. “This is Lena.”

“Apparently, she’s Kara’s future wife,” Alex commented. “We would like an explanation, Kara. Preferably sooner rather than later.”

“Right, um, so I took the job as I said in my note. Then I…” she told them about her travels to reach this part of the country, about the giant and Krypto getting injured, about Lena coming to their aide.

“The only people she purposefully turned to stone are the hunters her brother keeps sending after her,” Kara defended staunchly. “She mostly just wants to be left alone and not have to keep moving to stay safe.”

Sam chuckled at the smitten look on her sister-in-law’s face. “Well, we haven’t made the best first impression then.”

“No, you didn’t,” Lena growled as she became aware of her surroundings. Kara was holding her, running her fingers lightly over her snakes who were also beginning to stir. “Do you often storm people’s homes with smoke bombs and murderous intent?”

“Sometimes,” Alex admitted without guilt, “especially when I’m under the impression that I’m going after the thing that killed my little sister.”

“Darling, did you not post the letter?”

“No,” Kara admitted, “I forgot after we started kissing.”

“Really Kara?” Alex groaned even as her wife nearly fell over laughing. “That’s as bad as getting distracted by food!”

As if summoned by Alex’s words, Kara’s stomach rumbled with the reminder that they hadn’t yet broken their fast. Sam did fall over laughing this time.

Alex threw her hands up in exasperation. “I’m done with this whole day.”

“Come on, this is great!” Sam said. “I mean, your sister _would_ end up in love this way. It’s a bit romantic when you think about it.”

Lena leaned further into Kara’s embrace. “Is your sister always this dramatic?”

Kara snorted. Lena was one to talk. “Sometimes. Maybe Sam can help with your curse? She knows a lot about magic and how it works.”

She thought about it for a moment, absently petting one of her snakes even as the rest all tried to cuddle between her and Kara. “No, it’s not so terrible being like this. I don’t want to return to my old life, and it’s empowering being able to turn someone to stone with a single look.”

“Okay,” Kara agreed, “I love you no matter what, but I think I’d miss the snakes a bit if they were suddenly gone.”

Lena laughed. “I would to darling, they’ve grown on me.”

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Holidays Arckee! I hope you enjoyed this!   
> I might continue this later, so keep an eye on it!


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